“What are some childhood memories of your dad?” I asked Allen. His answer surprised me.

“You know, I can’t think of one positive memory,” he said. “My father was an alcoholic—an unkind and mean-spirited man. Everything had to always be about him. He was very selfish and had to have things his way. His words were cutting and emotionally abusive. He was very disrespectful toward my mom. And he was always making promises that he never kept.”

Allen left home when he was just 14 years old, having never known a father’s love.

He didn’t realize it, but since the day he was born, Allen’s “other” Father was watching out for him—God, his heavenly Father. When he was in his mid-thirties, Allen picked up a Bible and began reading it. Within its pages he discovered God’s love and acceptance.

“When I first read about God the Father, it was hard for me to relate to Him,” Allen told me. “The only comparison I had was my earthly father. But the more I read about God, the more I realized that He was all the things that my father wasn’t.

Real Turning Point

“A real turning point for me came when I read Matthew 6:8, ‘your Father knows what you need before you ask him.’ This text made me realize that I have a Father who’s concerned about me! He thinks about me all the time. And He will never let me down.”

Father’s Day is coming soon, and maybe you don’t have positive memories of your dad, either. So how might you relate to that day? Why not celebrate your “other” Father’s love—your heavenly Father’s. According to Psalm 68:5, He is “A father to the fatherless.” The One who said:

“I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:18).

“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness” (Jeremiah 31:3).